ATP Atlanta - Go Soeda vs. Xavier Malisse (21:00 BST)

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by Crunch Sports Staff

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Xavier Malisse will be expected to see off the challenge of Go Soeda later today (credit: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Belgian veteran Xavier Malisse takes on eighth seed Go Soeda this evening in the first round of the ATP Atlanta (21:00 BST start).

27-year-old Soeda has spent most of his career competing on the challenger tour and it's his success in these events which keeps him well entrenched in the world's top 100. The Japanese star is currently ranked 54 in the world, a career high as a result of three titles at the lower level this season, in locations ranging from Hawaii to Taiwan.

Malisse on the other hand, rarely bothers with challengers these days and understandably so. The Belgian is a former Wimbledon semi-finalist and at the age of 31, he lives for the big events these days.

He enjoyed another superb Wimbledon this summer, beating Gilles Simon and Fernando Verdasco before giving Roger Federer a tense time in their fourth round clash where he went down in four sets.

Malisse is at his most effective on grass and but is less so on the North American hard courts. He lost in the first round to Ryan Harrison last year and indeed, he failed to win a single match during the entire US Open Series.

He should at least be able to do better than that this summer but we wouldn't be surprised to see Soeda grind him down in the afternoon heat.

Prediction: Malisse in three.

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